Hi, Theresa. You raise good points. Rather than respond point-by-point, I’ll just post a few thoughts here.
As for e-waste: * http://www.apple.com/recycling/ * http://www.dell.com/learn/dell-environment-recycling?c=us&l=en&s=corp * http://www.lenovo.com/recycling * http://www.hp.com/go/reuse-recycle I could keep going on. The fact is, companies have recycling programs, so raising that as a problem with non-servicable devices is a bit of a red herring. In fact, I would argue that making things non-servicable by users is BETTER for recycling. Who knows how many people upgraded RAM or a hard drive or a battery & then just threw them away? As for concerns about not being able to upgrade your hardware: 1. Most people - the VAST majority - don’t care. 2. For those that do, you will undoubtedly be able to still find machines that are user-servicable. As I said, they may be more expensive, or they may be cheaper. Only time will tell. 3. The fact is, this is where computing is going. You may not like it, but that’s where things are going. 4. Who says "not user-servicable" means "throwaway"? You keep saying that. What evidence do you have? I don’t throw away my old machines. I take them back to the leasing company, who re-sells them. In fact, I’ve never thrown a computer into the trash in my life. Other people will donate them to schools or family or friends. Why would a non-user-servicable computer stop that behavior? 5. Thinner & lighter is always the goal, for all electronics. Is your monitor still a hulking CRT? Is your TV still an enormous box? Is your cell phone still a foot long? Is your laptop still 8 lbs? One of the many reasons I love my new MacBook Pro is precisely because it is lighter & thinner. Anything that reduces the weight I have to tote around is a good thing. 6. I got 16 GB of RAM precisely because that was the most I could get. Because that is the case, no Mac developer would release software that "required 32 GB of RAM". If such software did exist, that would be aimed at desktops like the Mac Pro, which does support such a thing. But in any case, if such a thing did happen, I would do what I always do: wait until my lease is up & then upgrade. This seems like a bit of a red herring to me too. 7. As for bringing up poor people, eventually non-user-servicable devices will be so cheap that it won’t matter that they can’t upgrade it. Further, are you really saying that a poor person would turn their nose up at an iPad because they can’t change anything? A few may care about user servicability in computers, but again, just like everyone else, most poor people won’t care. Hey, I’m not attacking you either. Just countering. :) Scott -- R. Scott Granneman [email protected] ~ www.granneman.com ~ granneman.tel Full list of publications @ http://www.granneman.com/publications My latest book: Mac OS X for Power Users @ http://www.granneman.com/books “A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.” ---Oscar Wilde On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 11:52 AM, tms <[email protected]> wrote: > On Tue, 2013-04-23 at 00:12 -0500, Scott Granneman wrote: > > I still find it funny how people complain about RAM soldered to the > > motherboard. > > Why funny? After decades of being able to modify/upgrade hardware, it's > now a non-issue? And it's also generating even more e-waste? Sorry but > that strikes me as sad, not funny. > > > > That’s the way it’s gonna be by & large going forwards. Optical drives > > are going to go bye-bye too. And user-replacable hard drives. > > Sadly, I agree with you -- we seem to be migrating to throw-away > electronics. It's like saying nuclear power is awesome ... as long as > we don't have to think about what we're going to do with the waste as > one of the by-products. Sure, super-shiny skinny ultrabooks are > sexy ... but the Mac buyer really doesn't have to think about workers in > 3rd world countries who breathe in toxic fumes on a daily basis when the > stuff is scrapped. Here's a link to a movie on the subject: > > http://vimeo.com/34114795 > > > > Oh sure, there will be a few laptops with user-replaceable stuff like > > RAM. But over time, there will be fewer & fewer, because most > > people won’t care at all. And it enables manufacturers to make thinner > > machines. > > Thinner machines is the goal? Why is that the be-all, end-all? And I > still, personally, don't see what that model is "better" than the old > (curmudgeonly?) model where the user can upgrade the components over > time, thus using the device for far longer than a throw-away one. > > Not to mention all those people who don't have the money to buy shiny > new ultrabooks. > > > > I have 16 GB of RAM in my MacBook Pro. It’s soldered. I can’t replace > > it. That’s why I got 16 GB. > > So, in a year, when you get some new software that requires 32GB of RAM, > you'll dispose of your MacBook Pro, and get a new one? Throw away a > perfectly good machine otherwise, because one part can't be upgraded? > > > > My hard drive can’t be replaced. It’s a 512 GB SSD. That’s why I got > > 512 GB. > > ditto. > > > > > I do wonder about the pricing of those "user-customizable" machines. > > Will they get more expensive because they’ll have a smaller & smaller > > market, or will they get cheaper & cheaper because they’ll tend to be > > junk? Too soon to tell. > > Sadly, I think electronics may be heading the way of automobiles ... > becoming too complex, or not possible, for the end user to support or > tinker with. And I find that a great shame. > > > And to answer Theresa’s question, I lease my computers, so I get a new > > one every two years. It works great for me & several other friends who > > also lease their Macs where I do. But I can understand why it > > certainly wouldn’t work for a lot of folks who don’t need such a > > service. > > Or folks who have less disposable income? I've volunteered working with > inner city kids for the best part of the last decade, and very few, if > any of them, could afford a new computer. Once they got an old one, > they definitely appreciated learning how to upgrade it themselves, so > they could extend its lifetime. > > Not picking on you, Scott -- I appreciate your comments and feedback. > And yes, I think "road warriors" like yourself are a great target market > for a top-end, shiny, throw-away computer. I just wish that the > manufacturers wouldn't forget about the rest of the people out there, > who would happily be another niche market for them, if they would only > provide. > > <stepping off soapbox now> > > Theresa > > > -- > -- > Central West End Linux Users Group (via Google Groups) > Main page: http://www.cwelug.org > To post: [email protected] > To subscribe: [email protected] > To unsubscribe: [email protected] > More options: http://groups.google.com/group/cwelug > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Central West End Linux Users Group" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- -- Central West End Linux Users Group (via Google Groups) Main page: http://www.cwelug.org To post: [email protected] To subscribe: [email protected] To unsubscribe: [email protected] More options: http://groups.google.com/group/cwelug --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Central West End Linux Users Group" group. 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